Category Archives: Trial

Time

This is a game that simulates the time when Saul chased David around the mountain and almost caught him. It also references when David crept up on Saul in the cave and cut off a piece of Saul’s robe.

Audience

Children, Youth

Materials

o Bandanas, handkerchiefs or large scraps of cloth (2 – in different colors)

o Bible

Scriptures

o 1 Samuel 23:24-28

o 1 Samuel 24:1-22

Preparation

o Read the Scriptures, and be prepared to summarize the stories.

o Mark or highlight the Scriptures in the Bible if you want to read them during the lesson.

o Practice the script.

Procedure

Use the following script and instructions (or modify to suit your needs):

“King Saul didn’t like David at all!”

“He was afraid that the people in his kingdom liked David so much that it would make it easy for David to become king instead of him.”

“So King Saul chased David throughout the wilderness of Israel.”

“One time, King Saul got information about where David was hiding, and he took his army to try and kill him.” (Summarize or have a volunteer read 1 Samuel 23:24-28.)

“Thank goodness the Philistines attacked! Otherwise, King Saul might have caught David on the mountain!”

“There is another story in the next chapter that tells about a time when King Saul was close to catching David but didn’t know it.” (Summarize 1 Samuel 24:1-22.)

“This is a pretty funny story, because David was in the same cave where King Saul went to use the restroom!”

“David was able to sneak up on King Saul when he was doing his business and cut off a piece of his robe.”

“A king’s robe represented his right to be king.”

“When David called to King Saul from the cave and showed him the piece of robe, it was like David was saying, ‘I could be the king now if I wanted to, but I don’t want to be king until God makes me king.’”

“So, let’s play a game about these two stories.”

“It’s called ‘Round the Mountain,’ and it’s played with two teams.” (Divide the group into two (roughly) evenly sized teams, and give each one a bandana, handkerchief or strip of cloth. You can also divide the groups up between kids and adults if that works better in your context.)

“This group will be King Saul’s army, and this group will be David’s army.” (Make these designations randomly. However, if you have adults playing, they should be King Saul’s group, since they are the “bad guys.”)

“Each group should line up, single-file (one behind another).”

“The last person in line should tuck the cloth in the back of your waistband, like a tail.”

“This cloth represents your ‘robe,’ and most of it has to be showing so that the other team has a chance to grab it.” (Make sure that the ‘robe” is showing clearly with just a corner tucked in.)

“The person at the front of the line is either King Saul or David, depending on the team.”

“The goal of the game is to capture the other army’s ‘robe’ as you pretend to run around the mountain.”

“Only King Saul or David can grab the robe from the other team’s army.”

“Everyone else in the line has to put their hands on the shoulders of the person in front of them.”

“If your hands come off that person’s shoulders, you have to stop until you get your hands back on their shoulders.”

“When I say ‘GO!’ King Saul and David will try to grab the other army’s ‘robe’ while the armies of each team try to keep it away from them.”

“If your ‘robe’ falls out, but no one has grabbed it, you can try to put it back in.”

“The first team to capture the ‘robe’ wins!”

“Any questions?”

Play several rounds, and let them switch between playing King Saul’s and David’s armies if they want. When they finish, debrief with the following questions:

Do you think God sent the Philistine army so that David and his men could get away from King Saul? Why or why not?

Why didn’t David kill Saul when he had a chance in the cave?

Do you think David made the right choice? Why or why not?

Review the Rhyme Time below to reinforce the main message of the lesson.

Like this:

I was at a meeting with some of our leaders from part of my ministry a few weeks ago, and we were discussing the topic of failure and how it is perceived within our organization. We agreed that there is an unspoken rule that failure is NOT okay. We will go to great lengths to prevent failure or even to cover it up and make it look like success when it does happen.

Why do we do this? It’s not biblical. Jesus let His disciples fail on a regular basis. Here are a few examples. They failed when they:

Tried to cast out an unclean spirit from a boy

Were asked to feed the 5,000

Argued about who would be the greatest in the Kingdom

Walked on water

Tried to stay awake and pray with Jesus before His arrest

Defended Jesus against the soldiers

Denied knowing Jesus

You may think I’m cynical, but I believe Jesus even set them up for failure on certain occasions. He knew that they wouldn’t succeed, but He let them try anyway. Why? Because failure gives birth to growth and learning, maturity, character, humility, a teachable spirit, dependence on God, empathy for others, and even innovation, transformation, and revival! We learn sooooo much more from our failures than we do from our successes. Are we missing out on God’s best for us when we work so hard not to fail?

Recognizing this problem in their culture, here’s what one region of our ministry did. They flipped failure on its head. Instead of hiding failures, they required their leaders to celebrate them. In every leader’s performance appraisal for the past few years, they have had to share an “excellent failure” for which they were personally responsible. An “excellent failure” is a failure that taught you something, that gave you a new perspective, that prepared you, that matured you, that shaped you to be more like Christ. It’s a failure that produces a harvest in your life or ministry.

And for it to count, you have to own it. You’ve got to identify what you did or did not do that made things go wrong. You’ve got to say, “I failed,” or else the failure has no power to change you. You can’t dilute it by saying “we” or “my team” or “because they.” There may be truth in those statements, but the failure won’t be transformational for you until you acknowledge your part.

So, what do you think? Do you have the courage to own your failure? Are you willing to put your name on it and see what God is willing to do with a transparent and humble leader?

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ~ 2 Corinthians 12:9

Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. ~ John 12:24

For though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again… ~ Proverbs 24:16